Addison Brae

Author

music

Dark Energy – song behind the scenes

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Curious how a song came out of two novels? Here’s how it happened.

Dark Energy album art

Becker Circle and its sequel, Dark Energy: Return to Becker Circle take place in the bar scene around live music. Jon, the adorable guy in one of the bands falls for Gillian, the heroine, who inspires him to write a song called Dark Energy during the Becker Circle story. As Jon told Gillian, “I wrote it about someone who had a streak of bad luck and how they changed it with good karma.” It hit me while writing the sequel. The song had to exist.

The lyrics. The song needed to reflect Jon’s deep-thinking character and his band’s rock sound. My music studies while growing up gave me a foundation, so I studied the structure of several favorite rock tunes to write the lyrics. I considered how many words are in a line, how many lines in a verse and the chorus, and decided to include a bridge. The chorus below represents the strength that helps people push past hardships that hit even the best people like Gillian.

Find someone else to conquer
What does it mean this dark energy
Dark energy won’t control my fate
Why do I deserve dark energy

Joanne Trattoria in Manhattan’s Upper West Side

The music. A Foo Fighters sound is what I heard in my head for this song. I’m lucky enough to know many talented Dallas musicians, including Brian Miller who agreed to write the music. After trying many times to get together in Dallas, we figured out we would be in New York City at the same time. Brian met my friend and me for dinner at the perfect Manhattan spot to inspire music, Joanne Trattoria, an Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side owned by Lady Gaga’s parents. We talked about how the song fit into the story, and I handed him a piece of paper with the lyrics. We walked back to our hotels on the cool, crisp, clear October 2019 evening, past the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, Central Park, and Carnegie Hall before parting ways. By the end of the night, Brian had a tune in his head. Since he didn’t have a guitar with him, he hummed it into his phone.

Studio session

The recording. Then Covid hit. It felt like the song’s message came true. The vast, empty space in the cosmos called dark energy was trying to disrupt. We had to find our dark matter to draw everyone together and finish the song. When the Covid threat lessened, Brian connected with fellow musician, composer, and producer, Bobby Hoke, to record the music—guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums—in Bobby’s studio. It took a few sessions to get it right. After Bobby handled mixing and mastering, the song was ready to release. The photo is one of the last sessions.

The final song. Listen for the original Dark Energy version toward the end of the book trailer. Find Dark Energy by Brian Miller and Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke on your favorite music retail and streaming sites including Pandora, YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and these Spotify links:
Dark Energy
Dark Energy .germans mix

Deep thanks to Brian for writing the music and recording both songs, and to Bobby for his vision for the .germans mix and doing such an amazing job producing. Thank you, John Harrell, for the beautiful song art and Katlyn Steele for modeling. If you are a Foo Fighters fan, you will like Dark Energy.

Find your dark matter and create your dream.

Whistle Bitch’s playlist

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Whistle Bitch can whistle a tune to fit any situation. Her real name is Makinzie. She’s one of my favorite Becker Circle and Dark Energy characters. She earned the nickname from her coworkers because of her amazing talent and ability to brings smiles to any stressful situation with her tunes.

Makinzie is a server and bartender (and cook when they’re in a pinch) in Pinkie’s Too and the George & Dragon, the two bars where these stories take place. A real bartender in an all-night bar/diner near the Space Needle in Seattle inspired Whistle Bitch because she whistles while she works.

Here is Whistle Bitch’s playlist, in the order the songs show up in the two books. Take a listen. This playlist is 45-minutes of music that will make you dance and smile, just like Whistle Bitch does in the book. Curious what situations triggered Makinzie to whistle these songs? Both books are available on most ebook retail sites.

Find Becker Circle & Dark Energy – Whistle Bit*h’s Playlist on Spotify.

You are the Sunshine of my Life by Stevie Wonder
Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen
Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley
Holiday by Madonna
You’re Gonna Miss Me by 13th Floor Elevators
Tequila by The Champs
9 to 5 by Dolly Parton
Material Girl by Madonna
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Cheers (Drink to That) by Rihanna
The Twilight Zone Main Theme by Geek Music
Dark Energy by Brian Miller
Dark Energy .germans remix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke

The last two songs are bonus tracks I co-wrote to go with the books. Jon, the adorable guy in one of the bands falls for Gillian, the main character, who inspires him to write a song called Dark Energy in the Becker Circle story. As Jon explained the song to Gillian, “I wrote it about someone who had a streak of bad luck and how they changed it with good karma.”

Listen for Track 12 (on Spotify) toward the end of the book trailer. If you are a Foo Fighters fan, you will like Dark Energy.

Find your beat today with a little music.

Fictional song now real

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Dark Energy .germans mix featuring Brian Miller & Bobby Hoke lyrics by Addison Brae from the Becker Circle novel series

Music has always been a part of my life. All the way through school I played instruments, took part in church choir. My favorite tunes were on while I did homework. The songs that inspired me most calmed my nerves before the most dreaded college finals. My first marketing job was radio and music video promotions for a major record company. But I never had enough talent and drive to be a professional musician.

Music also inspires me. It’s always playing in the background while I write. Dark Energy and Becker Circle take place in the bar scene around live music. Jon, the adorable guy in one of the bands falls for Gillian, the main character, who inspires him to write a song called Dark Energy in the Becker Circle story. As Jon told Gillian, “I wrote it about someone who had a streak of bad luck and how they changed it with good karma.” It hit me while writing Dark Energy: Return to Becker Circle. The song had to be written in reality.

The song symbolizes the dark energy and dark matter theory in the cosmos. Dark matter allows gravity to pull stars, suns, planets, and other matter together the way I see some people draw us together. Dark energy is the vast empty space that opposes dark matter. It slips into the voids of our lives trying to disrupt like it pushes matter apart attempting to destroy our universe.

I never dreamed I would become a songwriter. Thanks to Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke, Dark Energy has music and is recorded and released. Listen for this version toward the end of the book trailer. And now we have Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke, released on March 5.

The chorus below (and all of the lyrics) represents the strength people possess that can help them push past economic, emotional and other hardships that strike even the most careful and good people.

Chorus
Find someone else to conquer.
What does it mean this dark energy?
Dark energy won’t control my fate.
I don’t deserve this dark energy.

Deep thanks to Brian for writing the music and recording both songs, and to Bobby for his vision for the .germans mix and for doing such an amazing job producing. Thank you John Harrell for the beautiful song art and Katlyn Steele for modeling. If you are a Foo Fighters fan, you will like Dark Energy.

You can find Dark Energy by Brian Miller and Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke on your favorite music retail and streaming sites including Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, and Apple Music.

Find your dark matter and enjoy the songs.